Raleigh,N.C. 
moreer ber = fae 


‘as Such 


sy LOUIS R. WIESON, Librarian of || 
the Prersity of North Carolina, 


‘EN years ago had a com- 
prehensive’ article de-|| 
scriptive of the general | 
progress of North Caro-| 
‘Tina been written, iy 
Statement of the de- 
velopment of the li- 
brary as an _ institu- 
tion which ?largely af- 

' fected the life of the 

State, would scarcely have found a 

opine Strictly speaking, there was 

__ then, as such, no clearly defined, well- 

ie organized library movement. The} |- 

. State Library, with several college 

| 


‘libraries and an occasional city l- 
5 brary, as working along conventional 
‘lines, but the modern free public H- 
brary was just beginning to be known 
.in the State. ‘ 
_.. Even now, when the expansion of 
the State, especially ‘In the fields of 
popular education and industry, is 
under discussion, _the library move- 
ment is either- not mentioned or fails 
_ to receive adequate consideration. | 
: - Statisties illustrating the extent of its] | been most sig : 
activities, when compared with those] | of accessions, 1 
illustrative of sctivities in other fields, | |ing and aecura sr ht 
.Seem too slight for picturesque! they have not ap 
Fy handling. : ing the pw ! 
However, » ‘the - modern library, served 
hein rural, or college, or public, 
er traveling, has within the past ten {; 
“years unquestionably established it- [Jee r 4 
_ Self in the State and as an institution | ance of the library as 
making for saner life and broader institution wh h is cd 
F eulfure, must be taken into ‘account. ing the people i 
“It is anew, ©‘definite force, and | Quietly. but enth 


| 


whether viewed in the light of com- eee workin ‘to that 
parative statistics or what not, must | dignity and plac power in col 

be recognized and measured as such. | jege Hife which e ry oO ese ne 3 
Yo show that this movement has jshould have, and in a 

been thoroughly inaugurated and tO | way have bee " 


[ give a clear idea of the magnitude | through t 


iE: of its: operation in the State at pres- oe ; 
ent is the purpose'of this paper. In [dpe Ba OEM as bean “making 
b carrying it eut, it will be mecessary | ch of library: eran ty 
to give an analysis of the library 2 
‘situation. as it ests in North Carolina 
\ payee ‘ 
‘Rural Sahel Libraries. 
Rae During the political campaigns of 
1898 and 1900, when a new constitu- 
tional amendment was under consid- 
eration amd the question of an ad-, 
ditional qualification for suffrage was” 
“hen ettled, the provision of greater | 
al facilities for the people — 
found: necessary and legislation 
macted to this end. The four Re 
school term ‘and the rural ee ‘and in ey 0 
rary were provided for. Thus aa ks on its shelves to rey 
Cah hake bode housed in the. | pjace ost ollection, Davidson’é_ 
; ce , union li bu ding -céstin 


Nea Anas = pe A 
Since T1899 pete 


bs 


eon nese hee! 
ion has been ee a 
to 42,000 volumes 


iwere were 
‘periodicals were subscribed for. 


' mieet ee. needs of many rural saa 
| munities, especially. as conveyors of 


| Wide routlook upon life. . 
t fee was. sought at the meeting of the 


1000 building’ from Mr. Carnegie, and. 


j advantages incident to home life and) 
| congenial quarters. 
| volumes to its collection in 1910 ‘and | 1 


;}19E0. In 1909 the Appalachian Train- 


| State Library, 


| known and appreciated by every one. 
| These. small 


A A Set eek fF SR oe Fee 


hee has been very marked. In | 
1906 the State Normal and Industrial 
/College in Greensboro received a $39,- 4 


: 


is now enjoying all the comforts ana 
It added 1,049 
ireceived regularly 74 periodicals. lor | 


Similar purposes the A. and M. College | 
at Raleigh spent more than $900 in’ 


ing School at Beene 2dded 300 vol- 
umes, and in June, 1911, classified its 
‘collection of 4,000 volumes. By the 
the Supreme Cour: 
Library and the libraries of the 
igh and Mor-' 
respectively, 1,011. vVelumes 
added in 1910, and 98 
At 
he State University a $55,000 library 

ailding- was completed in 1907, and) 
“ith an annual income of $6, 000 for jj 
-books and periodicals, the library in | 
|1910 added 3,860 volumes and sub-| 
| scribed for 426 periodicals. The li-|| 
| brary also hag an endowment fund’ 


‘ganton, 


of $55,000, and its collection of books | 


and periodicals is thoroughly indexed. 
During the present summer new book’ 
'stackage is being installed at the cost: 
-of $5,400 to house its 60,000 volumes | 
and to provide for its accessions for 
the next ten years. 

Growth has also been apparent in| 
pthe Hbrarieg of colored institutions.” 
| Biddle University was recently the 
eo cil apes of a $12,500 building, and’! 
lit has 6,000 volumes, Shaw University | 
‘has 15,000 volumes and added 276° 
last year. The 4,000 volumes at St. 
Augustine School were classified and 
catalogued in 1911, and 25 eee 
eals were regularly received; 2,386 
volumes were received by 11 of the AT’ 
‘colored institutions reporting eR 
‘statistics in 1910. .' 

Traveling Libraries. 
_ & system of “traveling libraries, 
composed of small collections of 
bocks, say 40 to 50, eonsisting of 
fiction and non-fiction, though not’ 
generally known and understood by 
North Carolinians, is to be found in| 
‘the State, end it will be only a few: 
‘years before its presence will be so" 
general that its usefulness will. be} 


eollections are usually 
placed in trunk-like boxes and ship- 
ped for a period of three, four or’ 
six months. to small communities hay- 
ing no library facilities. 


}part of the community, the collection’ 
ig shipped to another community, and 
if possible a-new one of different 
books is sent to take its place. The 
first of these collections were operated 
by the various women’s clubs of the 
State, the Woman’s Club of Goldsboro 
‘having ‘inaugurated the movement 
several years ago. 
‘Line also operates a system of these 
‘libraries along its line of railway in 
the: State. In 1909, upon the estab- 
lishment of the North Carolina Li- 


| brary Commission by the Legislature, 
}the North ~ Carolina’ federation 
; Women’s Clubs turned over its sys- 
i|tem of traveling libraries to the State 


Of 


to be operated by it. >)’ Aithoush there 
are but a few ofthese ‘small cases. 
‘they ‘are Visiting Various Communities | 
in the State; ‘end. their* uséfuineéss’ ie | 
‘eonstantly .inereasing. By a wise). 
Selection of the» books: of- whieh they 


are composed, they: can: be made to. 


information concerning home’ -sani- 
tation, agriculture, 
omy, dairying, etc., in addition to giy- 
ing delight in the countless” ways that | 
‘@ good* book ean give pleasure and a 
Legislation 


roviding for the extension of this’ 


i nade A semBY. es was not 


sgeoured: 


} 


LES ont © mY 


- Among * the State institutions © Tibrary’ jj 


j} nical knowledge as that of a school: 
{Schools for the Blind and for the | cole, 


| Deaf and Dumb at Ral 
| school, 


office of the ‘Superintendent of Public 


llcges or communities ar interested so- 
| cieties which maintain or propose to: 


When the, 
books have been read by the greater C4rolina has recognized the. necessity 


The Seaboard Air }. 


, work or 


household econ- || 


paedous 4 school brie, is to bring 


The Library ‘Comunission. 


The addition of one more commis- |! 
sion to those already existing in the |: 


State and serving it-in 1909, may have 
escaped the notice of many North! 
Carolinians; 
in # 
Library, at Raleigh, has served the} 
publie well since its creation. 

The nature. of its work, possibly, 
has not been understood, even by 
Some of those who know of its exist- 


-enee, because the public generally has't 
fnot grasped the idea that the success-: 


ful management of a’ library involves 
aS many problems and as much tech- 


Generally speaking, we have the idea, 
as We once had in the case of the} 
that any ‘one can run a. li- 
brary. Fortunately that idea is pass- 
ing, and the truer conception of the! 


library is gaining ground. AS a re- 
sult, it has been found necessary to 
;provide .an infermation~ bureau to 


which communities may go when they’ 
are confronted with the problems in- 
cident to the establishment and ad- 
ministration of a library. The work 
ef the commission, like that of the 


Instruction, ~is lar gely advisory, andi} 
in the solution ‘ot all library prob-) 
lems it attempts to help those col- 


establish libraries: It also attempts 
to stimulate greater interest in the 
development of libraries and, after the} 


schools and of good roads, points out} 
the benefits which a community or} 
society derives frém a properly equip- 
ped library, ' 

In order to carry on the work of 
library extension; the commission em- 
ployed a thoroughly trained librarian, 
as Field: Secretary © in 1909: with, 


| headquarters at Raleigh, who has had || 


in charge the general work of library 
inspection and under whose editorship: 
a Library Bulletin has been issued! 
Since December,.1909. 
has gone to all the libraries 


and has been exceedingly helpful to 
library workers throughout the entire 
State. Personal visits have also been 
made by the secretary to communities’ 
eontemplating the establishment of 
imprevement of libraries, and all the 
problems involved in. the. various 
situations-have been discussed. fet 
Librarian Instruction. 

Since 1905 the University of Nortte} 
of giving instruction in library meth- 
ods to those who were preparing to 
have charge of graded schools and 
graded school libraries, and to that: 
end has been giving instruction in li-‘ 
brary administration to classes both 
in the summer and winter terms. Dur- 
ing the summers of 1910 and 1911, 
in addition to the instruction and pub- } 
lie lectures given; at the University,)| 
the commission hias given | special, 
courses of instruction for six weeks 
for those already,. engaged in library 
those under appointment.: 
This work has been especially valuable: 
and has proven of great benefit to 
_those who have taken the courses and 
through them to the communities 
which they serve. Imasmuch as every, 
‘school in the State will sooner or 
jater have @ school library, the im- 
portance of training teachers who 
iwill be in charge of school libraries / 
Cannot be overestimated, as the ‘use- 
‘fulness of a school library depends al- 
most entirely upon the skill which | 
the teacher has in making its re- 
sources ay ailable for the pupils and in 
rousing interest in books other than 
the required texts. In view of this 
fact. a movement has. been inaugu- 
by the commission tooking to 


brary administration by all  State- 
Supported schools which give courses 
n ‘teacher-training. The need of such 

tion is imperative if the money 
mt in securing.the books in the 


yet the North Carolina 4” 
Library Commission, established 
1909, with headquarters in the State 


! ploying.. teachers. 


\tashion of the advocates of local tax} these high schools; 


This- bulletin || 
in thet! 
| State and to a great many school men,’ 


‘the offering of courses in school li-} — 


+o 


7 <> Library” Legislation. 
Next. ae the législation vereeiain for 
the establishment of the commission, 
the most important library legistation 
enacted in the past ten years was the 
passage of a State-wide library law in 
1911. under the provisions of which 
it is possible. for any community of 


J the State to establish a free, public 


library and support it with an 3ade- 
quate tax, provided the matter is sub- 
mitted to the public and the election 
is properly ‘carried. | 

‘Although legislation FOE not been 
enacted ‘to meet the following needs, 
it has- been regarded as imperative. 
and an effort has been made to secure 
it. First, it has-been considered neces- 
sary that a well supported system of 
traveling libraries, such as has been 
deseribed earlier, should’ bé operat- 
ed throughout the ruraj communities 
bye ‘the State, ang ‘second that proper 
support should be secured from’ the 
State for ‘the- formation and* annual 
enlargement of libraries , for .all the 
State-supported” ‘high ‘schools: -Nearly 
two nundred of these schools are at- 


tempting to equip boys and girls for 
'the manifold duties of life. During 
the périod of their establishnient they 
have necessarily had to use all of their 
money in securing buildings and em- 
These . demands 
| have naturally. had to bé met first; but 
it will be a very grave mistake if 
adequate provision is not made, and 
made soon, for library equipment for 
forthe. > high 
school student who finishes his course 
without having learned how to enrich 
his mind and inspire his enthusiasms 
| by means of books, not required for 
Study, will find himself deprived 
‘of one of the greatest forces which 
|make for constantly enlarging true 
living. For the State to expect of 
its teachers to make the most of their 
;/pupils without the aid of the library 
‘is In a. very true sense to require them 
,to make brick without straw-.: 
The Library Association. 

Nothing can better indicate the 
progress of the library movement in 
the State than reference to the his- 
tory of the Association of those in- 
teresied in the development and Work 
of libraries founded in May, 1904. At 
;the organization meeting held at the 
|State Norma] at Greensboro, six per- 
sons were present, of whom one was 
‘the iate Charles D. McIver. Since 1904, 
‘meeting have been held regularly 
sonce the year, library problems have 
been discussed, plans have been pro- 
posed for the betterment of the dif- 


‘ferent libraries, a spirit of profes- 
‘sionar enthusiasm has been engen- 
dered, and with each year, growth 


both as to numbers and as to pro- 
fessional qualifications, has been con- 
stantly evidenced. At each meeting 
representatives from new libraries 
“have appeared, so that the associa- 
tion now numbers over one hundred, 

and it embraces. members from every 
Section of the State. It is throughly 
‘organized, and through it the library 

‘interests of the State have been 
greaily fostered. The public library, 
the rural school library, the  travel- 
ing libraries, the Commission, and all 
interested library workers have. been 
brought together by it and- thereby 
the library e¢onsciousness of. the 
‘State has been so quic kened that 
even greater progress than ‘that re- 
counted above can be confidently pre-_ 
‘dicted for North Carolina during the 
next ten yéars. 

The modern, progressive, helpful 
library is with us in the State today. 

Its presence should bring comfort to 
‘all who believe in it as a means lead- 
pert a the” State's larger, richer Jife. 


Bo 


